Janet Ruth (Hawkins) Ruszkai

Clearwater, MI – Janet Ruth (Hawkins) Ruszkai, 81, died on August 7, 2024 of natural causes at her home in Clearwater. She was born May 8, 1943 in Painesville, Ohio to the late Ruth (Becker) and Charles W. Hawkins Sr.

She Graduated from Painesville Riverside High School in 1961.  She attended Bluffton College and Ohio State in the early 1960s and studied elementary education.

She was involved in High School band, 4H, and later Eastern Stars.

She worked at JC Penny’s at the Mentor Great Lakes Mall when she met Steve Ruszkai.  She was introduced him on Feb. 25, 1967, by a mutual friend, Charlie Deeb, while bowling at Painesville Lanes near the Shopping Center.

She was engaged to Steve on Friday, April 21, 1967. She was 24 & Steve was 29. They married July 15, 1967, at Painesville Methodist Church by Rev. Thurman Alexander.  Maid of honor was Jean A. Dolyk.  Bridesmaids Maids were Miss Donna L. Aldrich, Janet’s older sister Nancy L. Egeland, and younger sister Valerie J. Hunter.  They honeymooned at Montreal Expo ‘67 Worlds Fair and visited Niagara Falls along the way.

She briefly lived with her husband at 45 West High St. apartment after they married.  They soon moved to The Hermitage, a suburb of Nashville, TN in 1968 where she had her son, Steve P. Ruszkai, Jr. in 1970 and her husband worked as a chemical engineer at DuPont. They enjoyed camping and boating around the state parks in Tennessee.

She moved with her family back to Ohio in 1974.  She was a housewife and had part-time jobs.  She and her family moved to Indiana in 1984, and then with her husband to Michigan in 1999 where her husband worked, and they both retired.  She enjoyed baking deserts, sewing, and making crafts.

She was predeceased by her younger sister, Valerie; older brother, David; and nephew Mark Egeland.  She is survived by her husband Steve Sr.; son, Steve, Jr.; older sister, Nancy L. (Egeland) McCormick; and younger brothers, Charles W. Hawkins, Junior; nieces and nephews, Kenny and David Underwood, Rebecca Birovsek, Jill Murrin, Heidi Green, Craig Egeland, Kelly Egeland, Emily (Hawkins) Morris, Amanda Hawkins, and Katie Tremont-Hawkins; granddaughters, Maggie and Grace Ruszkai.

She and her later deceased husband will both be memorialized at the West Cumberland United Methodist Church in Maine and laid to rest in the adjacent Methodist Cemetery.

A Memorial Service for Janet and Steve Sr. will be held at 10am on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at the West Cumberland United Methodist Church, 5 Upper Methodist Rd, Cumberland, ME. Arrangements are under the direction of the new Conroy-Tully Walker Cremation, Funeral & Gathering Center, 300 Allen Ave. Portland, ME.